Delhi’s air quality remains ‘very poor’; schools to reopen tomorrow: Top updates

Delhi continued to witness a slight improvement in the air quality on Sunday as it remained in the ‘very poor’ category for the second consecutive day with the overall air quality index (AQI) at 398. On Saturday, the AQI in the national capital was recorded at 340.

Notably, an AQI between zero and 50 is considered good, 51 and 100 satisfactory, 101 and 200 moderate, 201 and 300 poor, 301 and 400 very poor, and 401 and 500 severe.

Here are the top updates on Delhi-NCR air quality:

According to the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research (SAFAR), the air quality index recorded at 9 am on Sunday in Delhi’s Anand Vihar is 335, Pusa at 312, Lodhi Road at 302, Delhi University at 328, Airport Road at 346, IIT-Delhi at 317, ITO at 331, and RK Puram at 322. Meanwhile, the AQI in Noida stood at 297, while in Gurugram it was recorded at 215.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) said that the improvement in air quality is due to the change in wind direction. “A western disturbance will begin to influence Jammu and Kashmir from today, with strong winds and the impact of this western disturbance expected in Delhi-NCR on November 21 and 22. Wind speed will be touching 15 km/hr during this time, which will further help Delhi,” an IMD scientist said.

In view of the improving air quality, the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) on Saturday revoked stage 4 of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP), relaxing the restrictions imposed on truck traffic. “While comprehensively reviewing the overall air quality parameters of Delhi-NCR, the air quality forecasts by IMD/ IITM do not indicate any steep degradation in the overall air quality of Delhi-NCR in the coming days,” a release by the CAQM said.

Meanwhile, all the restrictions under GRAP stages 1, 2, and 3 will remain in place.

All schools in Delhi will reopen on Monday onwards due to improvement in the air quality, the government said in an order on Saturday. “It is ordered that all govt, govt-aided and private recognised schools in Delhi shall resume all classes (from pre-school to Std XII) physically w.e.f. 20.11.2013 i.e. Monday.,” the order read. It added that however, outdoor sports activities and morning assemblies will not be held for the next one week.